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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family.

There are religious people. I believe that go to church, And they have done what the preacher said do. And they have tried to turn from their sin and make Christ the Lord and the master of their life. And they’re given everything they got and they are as sincere as the sincere can be. And they try and they’re serious about it. They’re not trying to be hypocritical, not playing games. And they take what they’re doing is they really love the Lord and worship the Lord and they’re trying their best And yet they have this fear, paralyzed with fear that they’re not going to make it.

That for some reason, and you may not believe this, but this is the truth. I get emails and letters all the time, every week from somebody who has been so blessed because they heard the gospel and they tell me how they have been so paralyzed, even though they’re not bad people in the sense of the living and sin. They’re church-going people. People that believe the Bible, they just don’t know how to have eternal life. And not sure of their salvation.

They don’t have eternal security. And with me, without eternal security, you’re not secure. And they don’t understand how powerful that message is. And sometimes we can just take it for granted. I know that even today I’ve had what three of them that indicated they would trust Christ as Savior. From somewhere, I didn’t check on where they’re from. And we’ve had some yesterday and the day before that people are trusting Christ as Savior by watching either a YouTube or watching the services or something.

And I think it’s just, it’s incredible. But we can’t lose sight of how important all of this is. Take your Bible and turn to 2 Corinthians in chapter chapter 5, 2 Corinthians chapter 5. The Bible tells us that one of these days we’re going to slip out of these old bodies that we have and we’re going to just kind of slide on into heaven. We’re going to slip out of us when in, slip into another body. A home that we have prepared for us by God in heaven.

He says, if the tabernacle of this body were dissolved, have a home in heaven. And so he says here, and I want you to see this. Notice what he says in verse 6. Therefore we are always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body, where absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith not by sight. But do you see that? To live by faith is to live in agreement with what God says, taking God at His Word.

Not to take God at His Word, you’re going to live in the flesh and live by sight. And when you live by sight, you see what people say and do and you see only what your eyes can see in this world and that becomes your security. And what about the God that you cannot see? to look beyond this life and looking to the Lord and walking by faith, believe it or not, carries with it an element of fear. Over the years when I had made up my mind, I’m going to serve the Lord and I decided to go to Bible school.

Though I believe this is what God wants me to do at the same time I was scared to death, but I did it anyway. I was scared to leave my job that I had in Shreveport, Louisiana. We put everything we had in this viewing that we had, took baby cribs, tricycles, and ratted And on to the top of the car, it was high. And we had about $35 to our name. And I’m with a wife and two children. And we was gonna boogie all the way from Shreveport, Louisiana.

I didn’t have a spare tire, but I did notice that there was a little slit in the tire, and I was praying that it would not explode on the way. But we came all the way to Georgia, and I left betting the kids there. When I left Georgia to go to Tennessee Temple, I did not have all my needs. I didn’t know where I was going to sleep. I did not know how my wife and kids are going to be taking care of except they were with their mom and dad.

And I did not have a job waiting for me. I took off by faith. Believing that this is what God wants me to do. And at the same time scared the death. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the fear, you say your prayers, and in spite of the fear, you go ahead because you believe it. But if you think, well, I have to eliminate all this fear first, you’ll never do anything because as long as you are in this body with this whole sinful nature, there’s always this element of doubt.

Even though you can believe what God says, but you still have this element of fear. fear. And fear can be a success crusher. It destroys. It holds you back. And yet you’re afraid that if I just trust the Lord and do what God wants me to do, I’m going to fail. And what if God doesn’t come through? Then what do I do? And so a lot of people just play safe and never get the chance to walk on water.

They only walk by sight and not by faith. is taking God at His Word, not because you see how God’s going to do it, but you move believing God is going to do it. And so He says here in verse 10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. And that’s where you find out what is gold, silver and precious, stone, and what is haywood and stubble?

Knowing therefore, knowing, you and I, knowing therefore, the terror of the Lord, what do we do because we know this? We persuade men. Now there’s several ways in which I guess you could take that little phrase, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord. Is that the terror that God’s going to pull out upon the lost man because he’s going to hell? Well, it could be. Or is it that the terror that you and I realize in what we could have done, we could have persuaded more and we did not do it.

And we will have that terror, that feeling because we could have changed something and we didn’t do it. I don’t know. But I know that there’s something here in this verse that makes the difference of why we persuade men. whatever it is, the results were, we were supposed to persuade men and we’re going to stand before the Lord and give an account to God. But isn’t it sometimes a scary thing to witness to somebody? Well then, sow seeds. Always carry some heaven tracks with them, just leave them everywhere.

For the last 40, 50 years, you can travel across the country and find out where I’ve been, just follow the heaven tracks where they were left because is always a trail. Always keep so and say, you never know what’s going to grow, but you do this. Later on down in the chapter, it says, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. What’s the ministry of reconciliation going into all the world and persuading people because of the terror of the Lord?

What’s going to happen? How bad is it going to be? I don’t know. But the Bible says that God have not given us the spirit of fear, but of love and power and of a sound mind. So that’s what God wants us to have. But I want you to take your Bible and look at a few of those in the book of Proverbs. Don’t back here to the book of Proverbs in chapter one. Proverbs chapter one, I believe the Bible does talk about us having a respect for God.

And there’s people who don’t respect him. I remember years ago they used to teach that you know if a lady who comes up on the platform that if you’re on the platform you’re supposed to stand. You all ever heard that? Since I’ve been here and if I’m sitting here and when the women are if they’re not up here yet but if they come up I always stand up until they get up and they come up here. Now the only reason is because that’s respect.

You suppose I have various things in your life you do that just shows a little respect. When it comes to the Lord. Do you think God wants you and I in the presence of witnesses that show respect for God? The respect we’re supposed to have for Him. Would He be pleased that He knew and could see how we show our respect for the Lord? Now the Bible makes a statement in chapters one in verse seven, looking verse 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning, the beginning of knowledge. Another place it talks about it is the beginning of wisdom. Look in chapter 1 and verse 29, Look at verse 29, where it says, For that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. Now, am I supposed to live my life in fear of God? I believe I should have the knowledge that my Heavenly Father is angry with sin, and I ought not mock God by thinking I can do it and get away with it because I have enough respect for God to know that I cannot do this and get away with it or this and get away with it.

I respect God too much. I respect His word that I’m going to try to go by what He says. Woe to the individual, to the Christian, who loses his fear of God. Now the Bible talks about the week of the day. They have no fear of God before their eyes. I’ve noticed there’s Christians who have no fear of God before their eyes. They’re saved. Have you turned a life? Give the gospel as good as any of us, but they have no respect for God.

They don’t respect their heavenly Father. And I believe that is a shame. And I believe they’re going to be ashamed when they stand before the Lord. Also look there in chapter 8 and verse 13, Proverbs in chapter 8. But before we get to verse 13, look there first of all in verse 11, for wisdom is better than rubies. All the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. I wisdom dwell with prudence and find out knowledge by witty inventions, the fear of the Lord.

Now what is the fear of the Lord? Do you have the fear of the Lord? Well, He kind of gives us a little description. What he means? The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. If you don’t hate evil, you don’t have the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is one thing that you and I ought to have respect for, and that is fear what God says to fear. Fear what evil things can do to you, what it does to your testimony and the stumbling block that can be another Christian’s way.

Pride, arrogance, the evil way, the forward mouth, do I hate? So is that kind of a little bit about what it means to fear God? Is to fear evil? Hate evil. Hate what sin can do to you. Think of the consequences of what this can do to the believer. Look in chapter 10 of the book Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 10, and look at two verses, one verse 24 and then verse 27, but verse 24 of chapter 10 of Proverbs, chapter 10 verse 24, where he says, the fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him, but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

Isn’t that a good promise though? The desire of the righteous shall be granted. In verse 27, the fear of the Lord prolongeth days. But it talks about the years of the wicked shall be shortened. So you ever hear people make this statement all the time? Well when it’s your time to go, is it possible that your time could be lengthened or shortened because of the fear that you have of God, the respect you have for God, but that if you abuse this body that is called the temple of God, him shall God destroy.

Is it possible that God can shorten your life or some people could, Christian could be dead earlier than they would have been Because of their obedience or disobedience, I believe the Bible teaches that. It’s kind of like a person that says, well, when it’s your time to go, you’re going to go. This guy will send to this guy. Come on, get in the airplane. I’ll take it for a free ride. Ah, no, I’m not getting in there. Come on, come on, get in there.

No, no, no. The guy in the plane says, well, look, get in and don’t worry about it. When it’s your time to go, you’re going to go. He said, yeah, but what if we get up there and it’s your time? What am I going to do? So you might have a point there. Now in verse 27, where he says, the fear of the Lord prolongeth days. Now look in chapter 15, chapter 15, Plumber 15 and look at verse 33.

The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom. And before honor is humility. You want God to raise you up or exalt you, then humble yourself to the Lord. And God will raise you up in due time. But God doesn’t want to light a candle and hide it under a bushel. If you’re faithful to the Lord God will raise you up and use you in a great way. Look there in some of your notes and let’s just take a brief run down through here.

You see there in 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 14, be not afraid of their terror because there’s people who want to cause you to be afraid. Doesn’t the Bible say in John 14 one, be not afraid in my father’s house or many mansions, and I go to prepare a place for you that where I am there you may be also, do you realize where you’re going to end up? What’s the worst thing that could happen to you in this life to die?

What’s the best thing that can happen to you to go to heaven? Isn’t it amazing? It’s the same thing. The worst thing you think that can happen to me is to die, and yet the best thing that can happen to you is to die. It’s the same thing because you can’t get there unless you leave here. But isn’t it true that we want to just let me just stay here as long as possible. Yeah. But it’s amazing how fear can take over.

But you’ll notice here in Isaiah 8 says, neither fear ye there fear. All we down through here and everybody knows about the one that’s in Joshua in chapter one. Be not afraid as I was with Moses, I will be with thee and be strong and be very courageous and talks about the meditating upon the word day and night so that I can bless you and so forth and thou may make thy way prosperous and have good success. And again I say unto you, be strong and very courageous.

Fear not. Be not all that all the time. Why does God have to tell us this because it’s something we have to deal with? You’d be surprised at things that are coming tomorrow can cause you fear. Like I, I wasn’t going to mention this, but my little darling says, Jank, if people can pray for you, they know about it, but you know, they’re going to go in there tomorrow and they’re going to do a cataract thing on my eye.

And so Lord will and I’ll see you better. See from here I can’t tell whether you’re smiling at me or fronting on your face. I haven’t got a clue. But next Sunday I’m going to be watching you. Lord willing, I’m hoping that I’ll see better. Isn’t it why we do a lot of things that we do so that will either feel better, see better and all that, you know? But sometimes things don’t always work out the way you plan.

I’ve heard about people that have gone to the doctors and the hospitals and so forth and never come home. Hank went to the doctor to get better but he didn’t come home. I know a lot of people that’s happened to. I’ve done a lot of funerals for a lot of people. So you never know anything can happen. And so Betty says, you know, some people do those things and you could get blind. Is it possible? Anything is possible. So it is, you have just the element of fear and everything that you do.

But we’re supposed to trust the Lord and keep moving ahead. Learn to walk by faith with your confidence in the Lord. We didn’t ask to be born, but here we are. And aren’t you thankful that you did trust Christ as your Savior and they’re going to heaven when you die? And one of these days it’s gonna all be over and we’re gonna be in heaven. It could be tomorrow. If it’s gonna be tomorrow, I hope they did does it before he gets ahold of me.

You know, just case. I mean you don’t want to have surgery and then Lord come back in a rapture. So But the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2 and 3 in fear and much trembling. The Apostle Paul used those words. He said, I was among you in fear and much trembling. Is it because Paul was just so afraid to witness? Or because he knew he wasn’t a great speaker, and he knew that he didn’t look maybe as tall and as great as somebody else and his bodily presence was weak.

And maybe he wouldn’t, or they wouldn’t, accept the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and he was more afraid of that than he was of what they might say or do to him. It is something to think about. I remember watching Dr. Stanford. I had the privilege that a lot of the students never had with Ray. A lot of them went to Bible College after and never got to listen to him or anything. And I was as used to write for two years down at Old Grove.

And I remember watching Ray and I had him out in Colorado and the spokesman and they’re going to the schools to speak. The same. And I’d always notice Ray and his hands, and having behind his back, and I’d be watching him, he had a Bible, looked like it was twice the size of this one. And I asked him, I said, Ray, why do you do that? He said, my hands are so sweaty. He said, I always had that little fear inside of me.

And every time he got ready to start talking, it was like he’s stumbling. He doesn’t know what he’s going to say. He says, getting started is my hardest problem. And then once he gets started, man, get out of the way. He’s all right. And he taught us, the hardest thing you’ll ever do in witnessing is getting started. But once you get started, it’ll all come together. But his hands would sweat. And he said, I have that fear. I know I’m going to have to answer the Lord someday, and I’m afraid they’re not going to understand what I’m saying.

And I’ve always think I want to be clear. I want to be clear. I want to be understood. And I told you that one day when we was over there in Egypt, and we were there in Alexandria and late one night in Vomihol, I had my bed and Ray had his over there. I woke up in the middle of the morning and I looked over there and Ray was under the covers with a flashlight. And I looked over there and I said, and so I said, Ray, and he pulled the covers back.

He looked at me, yeah. I said, what are you doing? He pulled the covers on back, he had his Bible, and he had some paper. He said, I didn’t want to wake you. And He was making down some notes to make it a little bit clearer because the guy, Dr. Faruk, an Egyptian that he led to the Lord at the tennis court over there in Fort Lauderdale, got him to go to India. He led him to the Lord. I went to the Bible study they had over there with Dr.

Faruk. That’s how I met him and I got to go to him. And so he was trying, he said, Dr. Faruk says, I need to say this a little bit differently. And he says, I’m trying to write it down and trying to remember. I says, good night. I rolled back and went to sleep. But he was always striving. We even got into a little thing that they were hauling around in. And the guide was trying to show us where this was and this way.

And next thing you know, Ray honed in on him. And Ray would like a pit bull. He would not let him go. And we wanted to know about this and this and this. And then we got to the place where the pyramids were. Everybody wants to go see the pyramids race, still setting over this guy. And he wouldn’t leave until he led him to the Lord. After he led him to the Lord, Ray was fine, he was free, he got up and walked around, went to the pyramids.

But there was a certain amount of fear of always getting started. And so there’s a few things down through here, you can read some of these later. But understand, if you wanna walk by faith, means doing what God says to do. But there’s also a part of you that doesn’t want to do what God says to do and it tells you it won’t work. Or you’re going to be a failure or you shouldn’t do it. Now’s the wrong time.

It’s always something. But if you just go ahead and get started, it’s amazing how you see how God will bless. Learn to walk by faith. And When you have that fear, remember, courage is fear that says its prayers and goes ahead. Click up here. This hand represents you and me and all of the represents sin. We all have sin on us. God says that He loves us. Now He hates our sin, but He loves us. The pay for sin is eternal separation from God in hell.

But God loves us. and wants us to go to heaven and to go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God. And none of us are perfect. We’ve all sinned. We’ve all come short of God’s perfection. So the Bible says you can’t save yourself. You need a savior. This hen represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord. God in the flesh came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin, because it separates us from him. So Jesus Christ who had no sin did not have to die.

He took all of our sins, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead, and said that if we would believe that he did it for us, he would put this payment to our account and we get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us. This is so simple that people are not going to do it.213. are afraid to trust it. They have fear to believe. That’s too easy. That’s not easy believerism. And yet what did Jesus say?

He that believe it. He that believe it. He that believe it. It’s the only thing you can do. But it’s too simple. And they’re afraid to let go of their words because it’s hard to just take God in His Word. And yet we’re saved today only because we did. And when you trust Christ as your Savior, God gives you as a free gift eternal life. You go to heaven on what He did for you. And He said He’ll never cast you out and never lose you.

You know that you have eternal life. Best news in the world. Let’s pray show Him. With His bow nice clothes and know we’re looking around Him. Would you right now, if you have never done so, would you trust Christ as your Savior? I believe all of you here have heard the gospel. You know it. You believe it. But you that are watching by internet, maybe you’ve never heard it before. But if you haven’t, right now, would you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior?

If you trust Him, take Him at His Word, that He paid for all of your sins, He will give you as a free gift everlasting life. And you can know that you’re going to heaven because you’re saved by faith, not by your works. No man will ever be good enough to earn eternal life. It’s not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by his grace he saves us. And I pray that you’ll do just that. And if you will, right there on the screen, it says, yes, I’ll trust Christ as my Savior.

With you that are in the auditorium, talk to the Lord, is your thing you’re afraid about, that you ought to be trusting the Lord about? Remember walking by faith, just taking God at his word. And don’t worry about all the fear that you may have. Just make sure that you say your prayers, trust in the Lord, and go ahead. Father, thank you so much for all you do for us, and for the lessons that you’ve given us in your Word.

And Father, no doubt, there’s heavy hearts here tonight. I pray you’d strengthen each one, grant them the grace that they need. We thank you for all you do for us in Christ’s name we pray. Are you a new listener to Bible-wide? Do you enjoy the teachings of Dr. Arnold? Well, if you’ve never contacted us before, we want to give you Dr. Arnold’s book, The Gospel Driven Man. Every day we receive many emails from folks who have questions about repentance and salvation, about faith in works, and about how to share the gospel with friends and loved ones.

This book, The Gospel Driven Man, covers all those topics, and we want all new listeners of Bibleline to receive a free copy. There’s no obligation, no donation necessary, simply call us at 1-800-576-3771 or write to us and request your free copy of the Gospel-Driven Name. The mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Again, don’t forget to include your mailing address, and God bless you and thank you for listening to Bibleline. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us.

The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now, a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. And we will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believing that the Lord is coming soon, we just keep looking up.